[ANNOUNCER] The following
program is brought to you
by the friends and
partners of Time of Grace.
[MUSIC]
[PASTOR JON ENTER]
Hi, I'm Pastor Jon Enter,
guest hosting with you
this week, Time of Grace.
My daughter Violet, back
when she was about two
years old, had all the
toys in our house
completely to herself.
And I remember this one
time, we invited some
friends over with their
little child and my
daughter Violet's mind was
just blown that this
friend, this little kid,
would play all of her
stuff.
Violet marched across the
living room, snatched the
toy away from that friend,
looked at her and said,
"Share!"
And then marched away.
Oh, my wife and I looked
at each other like,
"Honey, that's not what we
meant, Violet, when we
taught you to share."
You know, truth be told,
we as adults, we have a
trouble, we have problems
in our lives, of sharing.
We want to be generous, we
want to be giving as God
commands us, but we
struggle.
We like to surround
ourselves with our stuff.
In today's message, Pastor
Mark is going to open up
God's word to you and show
you how in Jesus, he can
lead you to live that
generous life, that
freeing life, as God
commands you to live.
[MUSIC]
[PASTOR MARK JESKE]
Got to tell you
about the funniest thing
that happened to me last
week.
I had made a contribution
to a fundraiser that some
friends were having for
some family members that
were really going through
some kind of major stress.
And the very next day, I'm
getting dressed, putting -
reached into my closet and
pulled out a shirt,
thought it was a clean
shirt, put it on, and I
heard something crackling
and rustling.
And I looked down into the
pocket and there inside
there was a twenty dollar
bill.
Now, how on earth did a
twenty dollar bill get
into my pocket?
Was this a little love
note from my wife?
Would she have tucked that
in there?
Nah, that's not her style;
she would never do that.
Was I so braindead that I
put a twenty in my own
pocket and totally forgot?
Very possibly; certainly
none of my children would
have done that.
But you know what I really
think is going on here?
I think God sent it at
just that particular
moment to say, "I saw what
you did yesterday and I
really liked it.
And here's my little
reminder that you can't
outgive me; that you're
part of a convection cycle
of generosity and
resources.
In other words, you really
can't outgive me and I'm
going to keep it coming to
you as you are generous to
others."
That's what I'd like to
talk to you about today is
that convection cycle of
resources because this is
another message in the
series that I'm calling,
"I Want to Grow," and I'm
really talking to myself
today and I'm just
inviting you to kind of
sit in and listen to some
self-talk because this is
an area that I need to
work on and it's just
possible that it might be
something that you find
helpful, as well.
I want to grow.
I want to be better at
being a child of God.
And one of the ways that I
know I need to work on
myself is I want to be
more generous and less
selfish.
See, there's a logic,
there's a pure, clean
logic that discourages
generosity and it's very
hard to argue with that
logic.
If I am generous with
other people and I am
generous in my offerings
to God, I will have less
money.
And less is less, right?
Less isn't more.
If I have fewer resources
myself, I'll be more
unhappy.
So it seems a pure act of
logic that the more
generous I am, the more
unhappy I will be.
Conversely, the less I
give to anybody else, the
less generous I am with
people around me in their
times of need or the less
I give to other people as
gifts or tip to people who
are doing work for me, the
more money I'll have.
And the more money I have,
the happier I will be.
Doesn't that sound
logical?
In fact, the reverse is
true.
But only God's word gives
us the encouragement and
stories and incentive to
believe that really, the
reverse is true; that the
more generous I am with
people, the more generous
I am with God, the greater
my satisfaction.
And best of all, you don't
have less when you're done
because God quietly sends
you more.
Everybody's got reasons
not to be generous, if you
think about it.
In fact, I can't think of
anybody for whom
generosity is really easy
and does not involve some
risk and does not involve
some degree of sacrifice.
When you're in grade
school, you're broke all
the time.
What have you got?
A little allowance money,
maybe, a little snow
shoveling money, a little
babysitting money or some
birthday money; that's
about it.
How on earth can you be
generous when you've got
nothing?
When you're a teenager,
you're constantly - the
pressures are on you
constantly to try to
scrape up some money from
somewhere.
How on earth could a
teenager be expected, for
instance, to give an
offering to the Lord in
church?
Or when you get into
college, by now - now
you're really into it.
You had to borrow a ton of
money to go to college.
Now you're in debt.
You're running on fumes.
Maybe you've got a couple
of rich friends whose
parents bankroll
everything but most people
don't; I sure didn't.
My parents gave me a great
upbringing but they sure
did not load me up with
money when I was in
college and so I was very
aware of pinching my
pennies until they
screamed in my college
days.
You know, I couldn't be
expected to be generous to
people and to give
offerings in my college
days.
When you're just getting
started, you've got to
furnish your place,
furnish your apartment.
Ah, when you decide you're
going to get married, now
you're going to be in even
greater debt and you
decide maybe you want to
buy a house.
Or children come along and
you're constantly
scrambling.
Man, there was a stretch
for about ten years when
my net worth did not move
a bit.
Just because children cost
money; they are an
investment - a precious
investment - but yet, they
cost you.
So I couldn't be expected
to be generous when I'm
paying off debt and trying
to pay for children and
all the expenses related
to that, right?
Okay, suppose you're then
getting involved in
business, suppose you own
a business.
Business owners are loaded
with money, right?
Well, maybe not because
all the risk of the
business is on them.
So every dime they have,
they're reinvesting and
they may have some
accumulated assets but
those assets are all at
risk with the business.
If the business fails,
they know that their
personal assets are going
to have to guarantee the
loans that they took out.
When you're getting into
your fifties, now you're
thinking, "Oh, man, I'm
going to be retired soon.
I've got to save like
crazy.
I have nothing to spare."
And then, when you're
retired, that's the worst
of all, right?
Because now you don't a
sustainable income; now
you're not working anymore
and you're on what seniors
love to call a "fixed
income."
So frankly, let's just put
it out there: It's not
convenient for anybody to
be generous.
All generosity involves
some degree of risk.
All generosity involves
some degree of sacrifice
and God says, "Do it
anyway."
As I'm having some
self-talk about helping
myself to have more
generous thoughts, to be
less selfish and more
outwardly focused, to be
more generous with my
resources of money and
time and other things I
can do for people, the
impulse for that, the
power for that, the
guidance and the wisdom
for that comes from God's
word because it, as I
said, it's kind of
counterintuitive by purely
worldly standards.
But God's word has three -
at least three - very
powerful messages for me
to help me frame my
thinking about the way in
which I manage my
resources in my life.
Thought number one is it's
really all God's anyway;
it isn't my stuff.
It was never my stuff.
Whatever's in my wallet at
this moment is really just
a loan.
I'm managing it for my
boss.
The Bible says in Psalm
50, God says, "The cattle
on a thousand hills is
mine."
I know every bird in the
forest.
Everything belongs to me
anyway.
So really, I'm not talking
about what I do with my
stuff; I'm thinking, "What
am I doing with God's
stuff?"
Secondly, God is lending
me this stuff to be part
of his business.
I'm an employee of his.
It's his world.
He put me here to dial
into his agenda.
My agenda of what I'm
trying to do with my
stuff, my time and my
energy, is not designed
for me.
I'm his - I'm one of his
workers.
I'm an employee and so, my
business in life is
supposed to God's
business.
So as I'm thinking what do
I spend, where, on whom,
and how, my first question
should be, "How does this
dial into God's overall
convection cycle for me to
be God's agent in the
world?"
And the third powerful
idea is that I'm in a
convection cycle, as I
mentioned before, where
once you tie into that,
that's how your resources
get refreshed; sometimes
in miraculous ways.
It's maybe not always
going to be extra money
stuffed in a shirt pocket
that I wasn't aware of,
but God always does that.
When you go first, he
sends more afterwards.
You know what a convection
cycle is, don't you, the
way in which water moves
in our world?
God sends radiant energy
from the sun to make the
moisture on the face of
the earth get hot.
When it gets hot enough
and the molecules move
fast enough, it turns into
vapor and it rises up and
it rises up into the air
because of the energy of
the sun.
It is then gathered in the
air in the form of water
vapor and clouds.
When God sends a little
puff of cooler air, it
condenses and it falls
down to water the plants
and to keep people and
animals alive.
And that same water that
God invented in the week
of Creation, the first
week of Creation, has been
going round and round and
round and round for tens -
for thousands of years;
who knows exactly how many
thousands of years.
But it's been going round
and round all that time in
a convection cycle.
God does that with
resources, too.
You know, it's kind of
counterintuitive to be
generous.
So God's word, the Bible,
is what gives me the help
that I need to keep
growing in my Christian
faith and learn how to
control my own
selfishness, how to
control my own instincts
for hoarding, and to be
more generous.
I'd like to invite you to
open your Bible, if you've
got one nearby, or your
mobile device if it's
handy, and turn to
Proverbs 11.
There are some profound
statements in this book of
Proverbs and I'd like to
read just a couple of the
proverbs with you that
illustrate God's
convection cycle of
generosity.
In verse four, he says,
"Wealth is worthless in
the day of wrath."
Did you catch that?
In other words, what God
is letting you use in your
life is temporary; it's
only for your earthly
life.
After we die, we head into
his royal court to give
account for the way in
which we spent our lives.
And your money that you've
accumulated will be of
zero use to you at that
time.
You will walk in empty
handed into God's court.
So now - this is only for
now; not for our eternity.
Secondly, "Righteousness
delivers from death."
What does that mean?
Righteousness is rightness
with God; it's the favor
and smile that God has
upon us and the
willingness to say, "Not
guilty."
The acquittal we need to
pass through that court
and on into the
everlasting paradise of
heaven.
Where does that come from?
Well, the Bible helps us
see that you cannot
generate it in and of
yourself.
I am sinful and you are,
too, and even my best
efforts have some
selfishness in it.
And all of the years of my
life have accumulated ways
in which I've broken one
commandment of God after
another in various ways.
I'm not proud of that;
it's just stating a fact.
And you have that same
dilemma.
The righteousness you need
with God must come from
outside of you; it must be
given to you.
And God loves you so much,
he gave you what you need
in the form of his son,
Jesus.
And his perfect life and
perfect death and perfect
resurrection are now given
to you and you claim it by
faith.
And your saying, "I
believe in you, Jesus," is
like putting his holiness
over you like a robe; his
righteousness over you
like a robe.
And you now can stand in
that holiness before God
to hear his "not guilty"
verdict.
Because when he looks at
you, he doesn't see a
single thing to criticize.
So how you doing on these
concepts?
I'm pretty much there but
I still need to stay into
the word to persuade me
that what I see with my
eyes does not reflect the
true reality of God's
hidden convection system.
And so, a lot of this, I
need to accept by faith.
The only way my faith is
going to grow is if I
listen to God's promises.
Then I will start seeing
things that I might have
missed before.
A lot of it rotates around
the concept of "enough."
We feel more generous when
we feel that we have
enough.
Satan will see to it that
that hoarder mentality
will always be whispering
in your ear; that you
never have enough.
Now see, part of that is a
good thing; it's a good to
be ambitious.
It's good to work hard.
It's good to build up your
family's financial
security.
But that can easily morph
into something sick and
weird where you never have
enough and you just, like
the Dead Sea, only taking
in water and never letting
it flow out.
It can - you can poison
yourself if all you do is
collect and take.
And God says, "No,
remember my three mighty
principles.
In order for you to get
over this 'enough' hang
up, remember that really
everything is mine in the
first place.
And what I send to you
really belongs to me.
Second, remember you're
working in my business.
You belong to me.
Your stuff belongs to me
and your life belongs to me.
I put you here in my world
for my agenda.
So if you're not dialed in
to my agenda, then
nothing's really going to
work right.
You have enough now."
And a few minutes ago, I
kind of walked with you
through all the different
stages of life and how
there are excuses at every
stage of life to be
selfish because I've got
to have it, I want it, I
need it.
At every stage of life, at
every one of those, it's
important to say - to look
to heaven - and say, "God,
I have enough to be
working as part of your
business."
You know, only the word of
God can really give us
encouragement to believe
those incredible thoughts
that everything belongs to
God; that I'm really
working for God's business
and that I'm in his
convection cycle of
resupply.
Here's another boost for
your faith from 2
Corinthians 9, here's what
God says: "God is able to
make all grace abound to
you so that in all things,
at all times, having all
that you need, you will
abound in every good work.
He who supplies seed to
the sower and bread for
food will also supply and
increase your store of
seed."
Farmers, more than anybody
else, get into God's
convection cycle because
they know without God's
blessing upon their crops
there would be no harvest.
Reapers can't reap without
God and the sowers have no
seed to plant if God has
not provided that
reproductive bounty of
their store.
"And he will enlarge the
harvest of your
righteousness."
That's what you do with
your stuff.
"You will be made rich in
every way so that you can
be generous on every
occasion."
See, that's why he's
sending you stuff.
It doesn't say, "You will
be made rich in every way
so that you will really
have a barn full for
yourself."
It says, "You will be made
rich in every way so that
you can be generous on
every occasion.
And through us, your
generosity will result in
thanksgiving to God."
Your generosity will give
you a personal thrill.
Your generosity will honor
and worship God as you
show him you really mean
it that you know that
everything came from him.
But also, the people whose
lives you touch and the
lives that you change will
notice - after they thank
you - they will notice the
reason by which drives you
to be that generous and
they will draw the - they
will make that connection
and draw the line between
you and God and realize,
"They're doing that
because God loves them.
That makes me want to give
thanksgiving to God, as
well."
So I invite you now to
take some little personal
inventory and see where
you're at on these things.
Do you really believe that
everything you have really
came from God?
I mean, really, do you
really believe that?
Assess it right now - on a
scale of one to ten - are
you all in or are you
still kind of murky about
that?
Do you think of your stuff
as acquired by luck or do
you see it as you've
amassed it because of your
hard work?
Or do you really see that
all things in your life
are flowing and God's hand
is on that faucet?
And that's a growth point
for me; it's probably a
growth point for you, as
well.
Do you really see yourself
- I mean, seriously - do
you really see yourself as
working in God's business?
Or do you see your life as
under your control where
my benefit, my comfort,
pampering myself, my
personal enrichment, my
excitement, my pleasures,
and my hobbies are my
number one goal in life?
Do you see yourself as
having been put on this
earth to become part of
God's wonderful
enterprise?
Where are you on that on a
scale of one to ten?
Ask yourself and be
honest.
And thirdly, do you really
believe that God increases
the store of supplies to
people who tie into his
agenda and become
generous?
Whether it's generosity
with helping other people,
with sharing, with
hospitality, with giving a
boost, with being a
partner and a friend to
people?
Or whether it involves
your offerings and your
gifts to different
ministries?
Do you truly believe that
God blesses the blessers
and that those who refresh
others will themselves be
refreshed?
Do you really believe -
where are you, on that
scale of one to ten - do
you really believe that
your gifts of love to
ministries that are
ministries of the word
will in fact not
impoverish you but
actually enrich you so
that you can be generous
again tomorrow?
These are the things I'm
working on; these are the
things I now invite and
challenge you to work on
so that you and I can grow
up in our ability to serve
the Lord with everything
that he's given us.
This is how I want to grow
to be more generous and
less selfish.
Amen.
[MUSIC]
[PASTOR JON ENTER]
Hey, I'm Jon, talking with
you this week about
change.
You ever notice that
sometimes it seems like
God's saying "no" to the
change you want to make in
your life?
Even though it would make
a lot of sense for God to
say, "yes," it would be
great for you, it'd be
great for your family,
great for everyone around
you and yet, you're
struggling and struggling
and just not making any
headway.
Paul in the Bible knows
exactly how you're
feeling.
He had a change that he
wanted to make in his
life, a change he needed
God to make in his life.
Paul called it a thorn in
his flesh; a messenger of
Satan that tormented him.
And the word there,
"torment," really means to
beat down.
Paul was feeling beat
down, beat up; the change
was not coming in his life
and I think you know what
that is like.
We need a change,
something different, and
yet, it's not coming.
And we say, "God, why?
Why aren't you giving me
this change?"
Well, when he isn't, he's
got a reason; a good
purpose for that.
He knows better.
You see, I've got four
daughters and each one of
them has been just
fascinated by the
dishwasher.
I think when that door
comes down with the
dishwash, they scream in
their minds, "New toys!"
and they come toddling
over or crawling over.
Well, the front of any
dishwasher is always the
silverware and the
shiniest of everything
there is the knife.
I can't count the number
of times I've turned
around, I'm loading the
dishwasher and there's my
daughter reaching for a
knife and I get so scared,
I run over, I scoop her
up, and she screams and
cries because big, mean,
daddy is taking away the
bright shiny.
God knows.
God knows if what you're
asking for, the change
that you want in your
life, is a bright shiny;
something that in his
wisdom he understands
might actually hurt you.
And so he's saying, "I'm
not going to give that to
you but something
different."
See, Paul understood that.
God spoke to Paul when he
wasn't giving him the
change that he wanted in
his life.
Specifically, God said
this in 2 Corinthians to
Paul: "My grace is
sufficient for you."
Grace is God's undeserved
loved, his mercy, his
forgiveness, that we don't
deserve.
"My grace is sufficient
for you for my power is
made perfect in weakness."
Paul realized that
although God wasn't
healing him physically,
yet Paul was getting
stronger as he trusted in
God and realized, "I can't
do this myself.
I need someone bigger than
me and stronger than me to
help me."
May we realize the same is
absolutely true for you.
When the change isn't
happening in your life how
you want it and when you
want it, God is there
giving you a message:
Trust in me.
In my power.
And that will actually
change your perspective
and give you joy.
That's exactly what
happened for Paul.
Paul said then:
"Therefore, I'm going to
boast all the more gladly
about my weaknesses for
when I'm weak, then I'm
strong."
If you want strength in
this life, it truly comes
through Christ.
To realize that no matter
what his plan is for you,
it's always to bless you
and always to prosper you.
Even when the change
doesn't come the way you
want, it's always for your
good.
[MUSIC]
[PASTOR JON ENTER]
I have a letter here from
a viewer who writes into
Time of Grace asking how
to have memories of past,
of a lost loved one.
This person was married
for 67 years and lost her
dear husband and a lot of
her friends said you
should have so many happy
memories but she says
she's still riddled with
tears and so she asks,
"How do I turn them into
smiles?"
I would direct you to
Matthew 11 where God says,
"Come to me.
Come to me when you're
weary, when you're
burdened," which is
another way of saying,
come to me when you've got
a lot of tears.
When you've got a lot of
brokenness.
And Jesus says there, "I'm
going to give you rest."
And isn't that what we all
want?
And then Jesus says, "Yoke
yourself to me and learn
from me."
What do we learn from
Jesus?
Well, we learn from Jesus
the tears - tears are
okay!
Remember in Scripture, as
Jesus is walking to the
grave of his dear friend
Lazarus, and Jesus knows
he's about to raise
Lazarus from death to life
and yet, Jesus weeps.
Weeps in tears!
Why?
Well, he's still human and
God built within us a
coping mechanism of tears
so don't think you, as a
Christian believer, that
your tears show weakness.
It's you using what God
gave to you as a physical
aspect to mourn but then
there's a spiritual
aspect, and that's where
Jesus says, "Come to me.
Yoke yourself to me," and
you learn from Jesus that
Jesus has a reunion
waiting for you in heaven.
That Jesus can turn those
sad memories of loss into
ones of happy memories of
gain.
To be thankful for all the
years that God gave to
you.
I pray that's an
encouragement not just to
this person who wrote in,
but to any of you who are
missing a loved one that's
lost just on this side of
heaven.
Yoke yourself to Jesus.
Pray to Jesus.
Rest in Jesus.
And he will give you
strength.
I'll be back to pray with
you soon.
[PASTOR JON ENTER] We
sincerely thank you for
all your generous love and
support.
Coming from a heart
redeemed by Jesus and
overflowing in generosity
to what we do here, to
serve Jesus, and to serve
you.
Can I pray with you?
Christ Jesus, I thank you.
I thank you so much for
the rich generosity that
you have poured out onto
us with your mercy and
with your love.
Jesus, we don't deserve
you; we don't deserve all
that you do for us because
in our core, we get
selfish.
We like to hold onto the
things that you have given
to us.
But Lord, in you, we have
mercy.
Lord, in you we have
strength.
Thank you for transforming
us.
Thank you for changing us
and opening up both our
hearts and our minds to
live generously, as you do
for us.
Thank you, Jesus.
Give us peace.
In your name we pray,
Amen.
For Time of Grace, I'm
Pastor Jon Enter.
Have a blessed week!
[MUSIC]
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